Abstract:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Principles for Greener Cleanups outline the Agency's policy for evaluating and minimizing the environmental footprint of activities undertaken when cleaning up a contaminated site. Use of the best management practices (BMPs) recommended in EPA's series of green remediation fact sheets can help project managers and other stakeholders apply the principles on a routine basis while maintaining the cleanup objectives, ensuring protectiveness of a remedy, and improving its environmental outcome. Remediation at thousands of sites across the United States involves hazardous waste from former industrial landfills or waste piles, aged municipal landfills, or illegal dumps. A cover system is commonly installed at these areas as part of proper closure to serve as a surface barrier that contains the source material, reduces contaminant exposure or migration, and manages associated risk. The environmental footprint of activities needed to install and maintain a cover system can be reduced by adhering to EPA's Principles for Greener Cleanups